POV Kelina Corinth
"Let's go!" A voice shouts from outside screams. I had fallen asleep next to Vesormris, waiting to wake up and find I had been dreaming the whole time. But the door is broken open, and before Vesormris can jump off the couch, we've already been surrounded by peacekeepers. This isn't a dream. But how can something like this be real?
"This is a joke, right?" Vesormris says. He doesn't sound like he's confused, or that he is still caught in misbelief. He sounds angry; like he's telling these armed men what's going on.
"Nope," A deep voice from behind one of the masks says, though I'm not completely sure who. One of the peacekeepers steps forward, aiming his gun down at me. Vesormris moves to get in front of him, but the click of several guns around us freeze him in his tracks.
"Get up," He says. His voice is completely unfeeling.
I open my mouth to protest, but a motion from Vesormris cuts me short. He holds his hand out to me, with a solemn look on his face. Has he already given up?
I take his hand, and he pulls me to my feet. Our hands drop, but he doesn't let go. His hand shakes in mine, and I glance up to see sweat slowly collecting on the back of his neck. Another quiet pair of footsteps enters, and instantly every peacekeeper salutes in his direction. I peer over Vesormris's shoulders to see another peacekeeper - though he doesn't wear a mask and his uniform seems to be thicker. I know for a fact he has to be a higher rank, and the thicker fabric must be another sign of that.
"Hello hello," He says, in some sort of accent, smiling at us. He has long, dark brown hair, and a hollow-looking face. The teeth in his smile look sharp, and wide, pale blue eyes. Almost like he's died previously, and has been brought back. "Let's get moving?"
"Where are we going?" I ask, stepping around Vesormris and making a move towards him. A peacekeeper to my left lunges forward, hitting me hard across the face with the butt of his gun. I let out a shriek, falling from the blow and crashing on the ground.
Vesormris stoops down to help me up. "I'm fine," I whisper once I'm on my feet. He runs his thumb along the cheek that was hit, and it stings until I flinch away. "Unnecessary," The maskless peacekeeper says. I turn back to look at him. He doesn't look upset - he doesn't he look at the peacekeeper that struck me. He just stares down on us, his smile gone.
"You can call me Avian," He says, bowing a bit to us. He takes a swaying step towards me, the smile on his face slowly reappearing. "And I think you know exactly where we're going."
Avian turns away and heads back to the door. He raises his hand in the air, giving a fast twisting motion with two fingers up. The peacekeepers quickly move forward - not stepping around us. The ones behind us force us to go forward, hand in hand. Vesormris gives me a look - Avian had spoken so quietly he hadn't heard him. "The TV," Is the only thing I can say. My voice is so quiet I'm not so sure it was even mine. But Vesormris squeezes my hand and looks forward again, as if those two words said everything.
Our house, made of black cement with a dark wood roof, is left behind. The door swings open as the last peacekeepers exit, and smoke trails up from the chimney. Another thing to not come back to - a burned down house left in District 9.
The fact only now just hits me. This is the Hunger Games. Twenty-four people went in, and one came out. I am going in with everything left of my family. If I could some how find a way to muster up the will to live - a will that is willing to let my kin die around me - Vesormris won't be there with me. I throw him a sideways look. Does he know it?
I can't come back to burned out ruins with no one in them.
My feet disappear from under me, and I end up on the ground. My hands and knees sink into mud. I can feel people staring at me - and I don't get up. Just before I can let myself fall face-first into it, Vesormris grabs my arms and pulls me to my feet. I open my mouth to protest, but I realize he's staring at the peacekeeper behind me. His foot is pulled back, but he acts as if he was just continuing forward when he catches me staring at him.
Vesormris takes my hand once again and pulls me forward with him once more. Tears start to roll down my face, and my throat tightens. He only risks a look at me when he realizes I'm stumbling forward again, sniveling and choking on air. "Kel-"
"What are we going to do?" I cut him off. He just stares at me for a long while, then turns around. What he does say must be his answer - nothing.
We can do nothing.